This chapter presents two documentaries screened at the Cinematheque. Even if a documentary is a factual film, it contains both the choice of what to film and the director’s intention of how to show what they have filmed. So, for example, the sentence “A is X” means “I interpreted A to be X based on the director’s representation of A. Please read this section with the understanding that this chapter is particularly subjective.
Aum Shinrikyo Society and Outside of It
When the forces of great influence say “this is right!”, we need films that make people question and verify it, and also make them question their own thinking. That is the significance of mini-theaters.
“From a Small Cinema” From “A” to “FAKE” - The Return of Tatsuya Mori
In “From a Small Cinema,” Mr. Hirano said this.
This feeling became clear to him when he saw “A,” directed by Tatsuya Mori, released in 1998.
“A” is a film shot undercover inside Aum Shinrikyo after the sarin gas attack.
The film shows the devotees more vividly than any other media, including the chanting of the Venerable Master’s Buddhist prayer and songs in the office and the practice of wearing strange equipment.
In the media at the time, Aum’s devotees were supposed to be mind-controlled and incapable of proper judgment or emotion.
The film shows a gap from the image that had been reported in the press up to that point.
Each of them has a strong personality. For example there is a scene they watched TV together, chatting and laughing about how they are being reported.
Mr. Araki, the Aum’s publicist, is a particularly interesting character, with his good-naturedness and the human fluctuations that can be seen in his every turn, and the film also revolves around him.
What I understand particularly clearly in the stories of devotees is their criticism of our society.
They are firmly confronted with the secular world and understand that the world is a lying society.
It is because they understand this that they left the secular world and joined Aum.
On the other hand, I do not understand their belief in Aum.
Since I don’t understand it, I can only say that I am biased toward my own subjective viewpoint, but my honest impression is that their narrative of piety is still a convenience to avoid facing reality.
Whenever there was something absurd, they would just dismiss it all as a practice, and the practice of eliminating one’s appetite and sexual desire seemed to me to be a way of seeking peace by eliminating the self.
If all one wants to do is to escape from innuendo by renouncing both worldliness and self, I consider this to be a denial of connection with the history of humankind.
“A” shows us the outside world as seen from the perspective of Aum: the media, the police, and the public.
Mori’s films and writings often deal with the media and the public’s suspension of thought.
The media only sees the devotees as symbols of “Aum, a criminal group,” and never faces the individuals beyond the symbols.
They have no civility toward individuals, and are obsessed only with capturing the image they want to capture to gain viewer ratings.
Mr. Araki is fed up with the media’s terrible practice of hidden photography and deception, and he demands that they cover the story legitimately.
The media did not respond to his protest letter, and when Mr. Araki called the media, they said they were in a meeting and would not take our call.
As they struggled against the quibble, the interviewer could not respond to Mr. Araki’s point, “That’s common sense, isn’t it?” After his laugh that seemed to cover up the awkwardness, he still continued his demand to cover the story.
They are clad in the symbol of the “righteous press representing the citizens” and have installed the figure of the parrot as the “enemy of the citizens” against it, and seem unable to think of anything else.
NHK was able to interview ordinary devotees, perhaps with the permission of common sense manners, and this was also captured on the film.
The interviewer was slurred, although the devotees were responding calmly but not getting the story answers they were expecting.
After the interview was deemed not to have been established and interrupted, the devotee mumbles, “This would be dumb if it were broadcast.”
After the interruption, the interviewer, still trying to somehow get the story into a story that can be reported, asked if it is possible to convey the story without misunderstanding, but the devotee replied, “Misunderstanding is for the listeners to do.”
He understands that the world cannot think beyond the picture given by society.
In “A2”, shot three years after “A”, a scene is shown in which the neighbors who had been monitoring the aum house in the area are getting along.
Fuji Television’s camera is also in the scene, but such a friendly scene is never broadcast.
If it were actually broadcast, it would only draw public outcry.
A book “A - The Real Face of Aum that the Mass Media Did Not Report,” written by Director Mori, describes in detail how the mass media forbade the broadcasting of Aum footage taken by him for fear of public outcry.
The media circulated the story that Aum was evil and an enemy of the citizens, and the citizens followed suit and started an anti-Aum movement every time Aum moved out of their homes.
In the documents submitted to the court by residents who sued Aum, the anti-exclusionary sentiment is evident, with statements such as “a group of idiots,” “just because they have human faces, they are not human,” and “it is out of the question to say anything about human rights to such a murderous group, and there is no need to give them human rights.
The police’s “korobi kobo”
are also filmed.
It is an act that deviates from the norms of the rule of law, but this officer was clearly aware that he was being caught on camera.
It was an imposing act of justice to catch the evil parrot.
This must have been the atmosphere that was fostered in the public safety department at that time.
This officer was just acting according to HIS society’s common sense, which sometimes deviates from the rules.
Since a violent apparatus such as the police is a body of violence that is monopolized by the government and delegated by the sovereign people, they should not be allowed to do their job according to their self-imposed morals.
The film was also screened at the 1999 Berlin International Film Festival.
The following comment made during the Q&A session there:
The Aum devotees, as well as the media, police, and ordinary citizens who appear in this work, all seem to me for the life of me to be unrealistic. It seems to me as if they are all role-players who were given scripts in advance. If these are really real people, Japan would be a very strange country. In short, it is a fake country.
Tatsuya Mori “A - The Real Face of Aum that the Mass Media Did Not Report”
Looking at Japan from a German perspective, one can objectively see the weirdness of the society.
When Director Mori responded that German society must be the same, he was met with a backlash that this could not be true.
Contrary to the great response overseas, “A” did not attract a large audience in Japan at the time of its release.
Many images capturing the reality of Aum, which other mass media had not been able to film before, did not attract an audience.
I think what the Japanese wanted was a device for them to feel a sense of unity by directing their hatred toward their common enemy, Aum, and they did not want to be confronted with the fact that they were being controlled by a lie.
Did you get Mr. Hirano’s comment at the beginning of this section?
This is the “selfishness” of the Cinematheque that society does not allow.
Periphery and its inner society
Shortly after the attack on the U.S. Congress, there was also an incident in Japan that revealed the disconnect between the lying society and reality.
It is the case of the falsified signatures of the Aichi prefectural governor for recall.
Compared to the attack on the U.S. Congress, it had less impact, and in the end, Mayor Kawamura was reelected, and it ended in a haphazard manner.
Seven years before this incident, the Tokai TV documentary “Homeless President” was screened at Cinematheque.
The central character of the film, Takeshi Yamada, the homeless President, was later elected as a city councilor with the official approval of the Japan Restoration Association, and later, as deputy executive director of a recall group, he was involved in the falsification of signatures and was arrested.
the Homeless President
2014
Japan
Koji Hijikata
Mr. Yamada is the president of a non-profit organization called Rookies. The articles of incorporation state the following objectives:
The purpose of this corporation is to create an environment of re-challenge education for those who have left high school baseball clubs or have dropped out of high school, to create a society where hard work is rewarded, and to contribute to the realization of a bright, prosperous, and hopeful society through baseball-related projects.
from Cabinet Office NPO Portal Site
In short, Rookies is a school that provides an environment for failing baseball players to play baseball and “rehabilitate themselves through baseball”.Frankly speaking, there is no one who would come forward, and it is the periphery of society that young people who have no place to belong are reluctant to enter.
The film begins with the fact that the students are not coming in as they would like, and the management is so difficult that its survival is in jeopardy.
From the beginning to the end of the film, all Mr. Yamada does is collect money (such as jumping into snack bars and asking for donations, borrowing from black market money, etc.) and then cut back on his own life (as the title suggests, he eventually becomes homeless), and that’s all he does.
He does not attend staff meetings, does not seem to be thinking about current problems or how to improve them, and does not seem to be turning things around through any kind of awareness.
In accordance with social norms, he is not fulfilling his duties as president of a non-profit organization to his students and staff.
Nevertheless, he did not give up.
He blindly believed the popular saying, “If you don’t give up and believe, one day it will come true,” and so he was spellbound by his mission to “never let his students see him give up.”
Hence, he would ask people to donate to the Rookies on a daily basis, only to repeatedly raise funds for its operations.
Since the purpose of the articles of incorporation states “to create a society where hard work is rewarded,” he must have been aware that the current society is not one where hard work is rewarded.
The purpose has been conveniently replaced by blind faith.
Mr. Yamada is a man who makes us feel that he would have been a good person in a simple society like the farming communities of the Edo period.
I feel a gleam of straight and unusual energy that arises from his feelings for the children who have fallen through the cracks.
In the movie, we see him objectively, so we get the impression that he is a boorish and dangerous person, but he would later be elected as a city councilor, so if we had met him in person, he would seem to be very personable.
The film presents the reality that it is difficult to even know what a good deed is because of the lies that pervade society, even if one naively tries to do good.
Mr. Yamada has an ego that says, “I can’t leave dropout children alone,” and thus has been pushed to the periphery along with irrationality.
There is another key character in this film, the coach of the baseball team.
The coach has internalized the idea of developing strong people as education, and even if there is bullying on the team, for example, he seems to have the idea that the child being bullied should also become stronger.
There is a scene where this bullied child is late for practice.
After asking him the reason for his lateness, he explained that his parents were fighting and he threatened to kill himself to stop them, resulting in a police incident, and that he went directly from the police to the practice the next day.
As soon as the explanation is over, the coach slaps the kid repeatedly and then tells him not to do it again.
This coach was fired from his previous team for corporal punishment and ended up drifting to the rookies.
He said he had sealed off corporal punishment after that, but said he believed he had no choice but to do so only at this time.
It means that he slapped him even in front of the camera, knowing that corporal punishment is not socially acceptable and that he was aware of the risks involved in doing so.
If I were in this position, I would not use corporal punishment, and after listening to him in detail, I would only be able to finally say something without substance, such as, “Let’s not do that kind of thing.
For him, it is just a waste of time, but such an attitude is the “right” answer that society will not condemn.
The slap that the coach performed is definitely condemned by society and is “wrong”.
There is no objective measure of how much of that emotional behavior is mixed with instructive effects or a desire for control.
Corporal punishment cannot be justified to society; it is the “selfishness” of the coach.
There are those in the world who teach without corporal punishment and with a firm commitment to the child and their environment. This requires a tremendous amount of time and effort, and it can be life-draining.
In both cases, someone on the periphery is required to act beyond rationality.
Rather, it would be more appropriate to say that they are on the periphery because they have spilled over from the central rationale.
If they could be helped by rational coping, they would not be on the periphery in the first place.
Rationality is the rule for the peace of those aligned to the central standard, and the periphery is where irrationality is imposed on those who fall outside the standard.
Imposing common sense based on central rationality while ignoring the situation on the periphery is violence.
The Tokai TV Documentary Series is a series of programs broadcast on Tokai TV, edited for film and shown in movie theaters.
The coach’s slap was also broadcast on television. This slap was highly unpopular with viewers, and many complaints were received by the TV station. Of course, Although they would have expected this unpopularity, the producers broadcast the story to those who could imagine the deeper aspects of the story.
Some of the complainers seemed to perceive the slapping as a shocking image to gain ratings.
Rather, television has atrophied in response to such cheap criticism and has been forced to move toward ratings supremacy….
This film is the “selfishness” of the documentary team at Tokai Television to challenge against the lack of risk-taking in the industry.
It is not only the coach who slapped him, but also Mr. Yamada who is being vilified by the viewers.
The response after the broadcast was a parade of bad words.
“The president is being too naive.”
“The leaders must be able to see the big picture, or the children will be sacrificed.”
“The president’s stupidity is pathetic.”
“He’s too stupid.”
“If he has time to get down on his knees, he should be working.”
“Stop smoking instead of trying to make money.” ……
(From an email sent to the 2013 Homeless Board President)
Katsuhiko Abuno “Farewell TV: Filming a Documentary”
To put these comments in a simple way, it can be said that there is a lack of understanding of the periphery.
There is no desire to know what one does not know, only a lack of understanding that directly leads to anger.
It might be more appropriate to say that they are trying not to see the irrationality that has occurred by imposing central common sense.
They seem to like stories where dropouts find success through hard work and stories where they can lean on unfavorable circumstances and grieve the tragedy together.
However, it is uncomfortable for those in the center to be shown the reality of the periphery.
This is because people are looking for propaganda that will reinforce their belief in the central motto: “If you don’t give up and believe, one day it will come true.”
Eventually, it seems that the advertising effect from the film adaptation was significant, and the rookies will continue to exist after the film is shown.
Mr. Yamada commented on Facebook when a donation was received from a movie viewer.
■ We received a donation to the NPO Rookies.
It has been five years since a documentary film was made about the activities of the Rookies. Last week, we received a donation from a person who had seen the film. At the time, the issue of “child poverty” was not yet socially recognized. I think it was difficult for the viewers of the film to understand the essence of the film, as it did not convey the purpose of solving the social problem that the Rookies were working on. I wanted many people to understand that support groups that try to solve “child poverty” head-on will fall into poverty themselves, and that this is a problem that must be tackled by society as a whole. This is a film that I wanted to convey my appeal to the audience as I struggled with this issue. (omitted) As those who have seen the film can understand, groups like the Rookies themselves are beaten down by society. (omitted) The disparity will cascade to the next generation, and the society will become more and more polarized. I would like to make as many children as possible who are on the road to the losers into winners with the Rookies. This year, I would like to fight even harder to correct the disparity.
from Facebook of Takeshi Yamada Jun. 15th 2017
The film was not made to communicate in the way Mr. Yamada expected.
If the film had been “easy to understand and close to the tragedy,” it would have lived up to Mr. Yamada’s expectations, and there might not have been a snide e-mail.
However, Tokai TV’s documentary team does not produce such clear works, but challenges viewers to confront uncertainty.
I think they are rejecting the “winners or losers” kind of cheapness seen in Yamada’s earlier comment.
In the scheme of the center, which is inside the order, and the periphery, which is outside the order, the coach is looking directly at the periphery as seen by the coach without regard to the common sense of the center, while Mr. Yamada is on the periphery but blindly trusts the common sense of the center.
The statement “rehabilitated through baseball” exists as common sense, but it is doubtful how much substance it carries within each individual, and one senses the presence of an “anonymous authority” rooted in the center.
It would be fine to say “rehabilitated through badminton” or “rehabilitated through kendama,” but many people would probably feel strange if you said that.
Sports are sanctified, and baseball is at the top of the list.
There are two types of education: “education that imparts knowledge” and “education that disciplines."The word “education,” which somehow exists in the center, is colored with the latter meaning.
Inherent in the word “education” is the unconscious value of whether one can endure the severe discipline that is common in baseball clubs, and if one cannot, then it is inevitable that one will be sent to the periphery.
The “education” prevalent in the center is in effect just “inspection,” and the " reeducation” that the rookies stand for is just “re-inspection.”
I find it foolish to not recognize the diversity of ways of life and to assume that one can be judged based on easy standards.
Forcing people to conform to norms created by an “anonymous authority” at the center and suppressing those who do not conform is totalitarianism itself.
Why is it that in Mr. Yamada’s earlier comment, “groups like the Rookies themselves are beaten down by society”?
Those on the periphery who do not meet the norms of the center are viewed as social evils.
For those who have lost their identity, attacking the periphery becomes a device to gain relative peace of mind through convenient interpretations such as “I am in the center because I am doing my best and doing it right”.
What has been oppressing Mr. Yamada is the central norm that he himself blindly believes in.
What do you all imagine between Mr. Yamada’s compassionate work for the children and his later conviction for falsifying signatures?
Of course, I don’t know what actually happened, but it feels like a linear connection in my mind.
The recall of Governor Omura was triggered by the opposition of nationalists to the Aichi Triennale, which included a statue of a comfort woman and a work dealing with the Emperor of Japan.
For those with a strong belief in the center, nationalism has become the greatest stronghold and receptacle for many people.
It is easy to imagine Mr. Yamada, whose efforts are unrewarded, beaten down by society, and isolated, trying to satisfy his sense of subservience by pandering to cheap nationalism.
Blindly believing in the empty words floating around in a lying society, Mr. Yamada was swept along unsteadily without a foot on the ground, drifting in the direction of what was convenient and ultimately ending up participating in crimes on the sly.
Although Mr. Yamada was aware of the injustice of his actions, it was probably more rational for him to choose to commit crimes in the society to which he was swept away.
What I want to say after all
Humans are social creatures, and it is natural for them to live according to social conventions, and it is also a fundamental part of human nature to live according to values created by society.
However, today’s society is a snooty one, and even living earnestly without questioning social conventions is a situation that contributes to this snootiness.
People live in their own world and follow the rules of their own world.
It is easy to assume that if you don’t step outside of those rules, you are not making a mistake, but those rules are just standards set by the public (and often for their convenience).
The accumulation of such mindless forms today’s major social problems.
A society dominated by lies cannot move in the right direction.
In summary, today’s social problems lead back to the problem of loss of self due to totalitarianism.
Even if “big power” such as technology or government tries to fix the resulting distortion, it will only create another distortion by a common justice that ignores the “small voice”.
And when that “big power” is controlled by those who control it, it turns into inhumane violence.
There needs to be a bottom-up solution through a chain of actions, first by you, then by your neighbor, and then by that neighbor’s neighbor, and so on.
In order to develop a healthy history in today’s society, each individual must maintain their own identity without being in sync with mindless society’s “common sense” rules.
It is important to question, and have the opportunity to question, the correctness of the forces of great influence, as Hirano said at the beginning of this chapter.
The self is established when one’s correctness is fostered along with a deep respect for the wisdom that is outside of oneself, without blindly adopting the correctness that is outside of oneself.
It may even create friction and incomprehension as “selfishness”.
While it is completely evil for a great totalitarian power to suppress “selfishness” unconditionally, we believe that the clash between “selfishness” and “selfishness” is an essentially necessary conflict for the accumulation of human wisdom.
As a result of the advancement of individualism through the development of civilization, the power of syncretism is ever increasing, lies are spreading as a matter of course, and the power of the individual to contend is relatively very small.
In Chapter 2, I stated that solidarity with unevenness is necessary to resist totalitarianism.
In order to resist the torrent of syncretism and create an unevenness, we need a place where we can lean on and not be isolated.
In such a place, we can gain a sense of authenticity and become grounded and oriented in our own direction.
For me, the Cinematheque was the place to stop by.
Furthermore, by watching the rich diversity of films at the Cinematheque, I was able to look at myself relatively from within the “correctness of the influential forces” and strengthen my own “selfishness”.
A healthy society is one in which small places form a rich and complex intertwining and solidarity.
Such places have been crushed one after another by lying society.
